July 11,1767 in Braintree, Massachusetts-February 23, 1848 in Washington D.C.
Political Party: Republican
Terms: March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829
Vice President: John C. Calhoun Thematic Context: During the presidency of John Quincy Adams, few foreign affairs occurred. Globalization did not make much progress during his time in office. What Adams was able to do, however, is improve trade with more countries. He signed multiple treaties with various nations for more commercial trading. Some of these nations include Austria, Brazil, the Central American Federation, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. This gave the United States respectable trading rights. This impacted the presidency because with tensions over trade still tense with Britain, this helped the economy of the United States as a whole. It was a big establishment made by the President. Americans at the time were, in a sense, relieved of these new trading partners. It allowed for new crops and goods into the country and let Americans sell their goods to foreigners. Another globalization development made by John Quincy Adams was that he was able to finally resolve multiple questions about Britain capturing properties during the War of 1812. It impacted the presidency because America and the government can finally put the War of 1812 behind them. Adams was able to move onto more pressing issues such as internal improvements and the national debt. The people were influenced by this because they could finally have full control of their land instead of have to share it with Britain. Thesis: John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States, deserves a B+ for his efforts in office. In his term, Adams was unable to accomplish much. The hostile Congress vetoed many of the proposals suggested by the President. Many of the bills and ideas brought up by Adams was believed to violate state’s rights. The national debt at the time was around $16 million, which Adams was successfully able to bring down to $5 million. The overall debt was finally paid off completely by Andrew Jackson, the next President. John Quincy Adams was surprisingly generous towards Native Americans. This caused him trouble from the settlers on the frontier who wanted to move west. Even though Adams did not accomplish a lot during his term in office, the country never moved backwards and he was able to reduce the national debt, earning him a B+.
Goals:
The main goals of John Quincy Adams was to make improvements internally in the country, improve education with a national university, and to federally support arts and sciences. Adams presented a program to improve roads and canals. Many canals started to be built. The Chesapeake and Ohio canal, the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and the Louisville and Portland Canal were all started during the term of Adams. The construction of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad began as well. Many of his other ideas to improve other things such as education was viewed to go against the rights of the states. For that reason, not much was done to improve such things.
Relationship with Congress:
At the time, the relationship between Adams and Congress was tense and difficult. Congress was pushing towards state’s rights while Adams wanted to make laws and bills to further the nation as a whole. Due to this conflict, neither one would allow the other to get much done. That is the primary reason very little was accomplished during the term of Adams. The laws that Adams wanted to pass Congress believed to violate the rights of the states. Near the end of his term in office, Adams managed to lose Congress all together.
Positive Event:
John Quincy Adams was a strict believer in internal improvements. Adams formed a high tariff for these internal improvements which included better roads and a national bank. He presented Congress with a program to modernize roads, form canals, build a national university, and to create a national observatory. This was the most positive event because, considering not much occurred during his presidency, this event improved the nation the most. Internally improving the nation bettered transportation through America, making it easier to get from point A to point B.
Negative Event:
Adams wanted to protect the northern manufacturing, so therefore he created the Tariff of 1828. This tariff, also known as the Tariff of Abominations, was built to protect the industries in the north by taxing the imported goods. Even though the north was prospering from this tariff, the south was not as fortunate. They were being forced to pay higher prices for goods that they did not produce. There were little to no industries in the south but they still had to pay for the tariff. The tariff of Abominations separated the nation. The south were furious for this tariff and America was slowly deteriorating. It was one of the many causes to the Civil War.
Influential Decision:
The Tariff of Abominations had a big influence on the nation in future years. This negative decision showed how the nation and its economy can decrease if the President does not make choices to benefit the whole country. The Tariff of Abominations was tilted toward the North and the South were suffering. The people wanted to avoid this catastrophe and keep it from happening again. In the future, Presidents started to make decisions or compromises that would benefit the whole country instead of one particular area.
Conclusion:
In the end, the country was not worse off but not increasingly better. Other than the Tariff of Abominations, John Quincy Adams did not make any decisions that significantly hurt the United States. He was able to improve transportation with internal improvements. Also, he lowered the national debt by $11 million. Relations with Britain were still tense, so Adams was able to secure other trading channels with other countries. This kept the economy running, even though it was destroyed by the Tariff of Abominations. His relations with Congress were not good as well. He still believed in nationalism while the Congress was moving towards state’s rights. Due to this big difference of viewpoints, not much was able to be done. Granted, Adams was involved in many affairs before he became President in which he would have had to face these issues if they were not resolved earlier. Since not much was done during the actual presidency of Adams, the country never really moved in one direction or the other. After the term of Adams, he still deserves a B+ for his efforts in improving the nation.
July 11,1767 in Braintree, Massachusetts-February 23, 1848 in Washington D.C.
Political Party: Republican
Terms: March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829
Vice President: John C. Calhoun
Thematic Context:
During the presidency of John Quincy Adams, few foreign affairs occurred. Globalization did not make much progress during his time in office. What Adams was able to do, however, is improve trade with more countries. He signed multiple treaties with various nations for more commercial trading. Some of these nations include Austria, Brazil, the Central American Federation, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. This gave the United States respectable trading rights. This impacted the presidency because with tensions over trade still tense with Britain, this helped the economy of the United States as a whole. It was a big establishment made by the President. Americans at the time were, in a sense, relieved of these new trading partners. It allowed for new crops and goods into the country and let Americans sell their goods to foreigners. Another globalization development made by John Quincy Adams was that he was able to finally resolve multiple questions about Britain capturing properties during the War of 1812. It impacted the presidency because America and the government can finally put the War of 1812 behind them. Adams was able to move onto more pressing issues such as internal improvements and the national debt. The people were influenced by this because they could finally have full control of their land instead of have to share it with Britain.
Thesis:
John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States, deserves a B+ for his efforts in office. In his term, Adams was unable to accomplish much. The hostile Congress vetoed many of the proposals suggested by the President. Many of the bills and ideas brought up by Adams was believed to violate state’s rights. The national debt at the time was around $16 million, which Adams was successfully able to bring down to $5 million. The overall debt was finally paid off completely by Andrew Jackson, the next President. John Quincy Adams was surprisingly generous towards Native Americans. This caused him trouble from the settlers on the frontier who wanted to move west. Even though Adams did not accomplish a lot during his term in office, the country never moved backwards and he was able to reduce the national debt, earning him a B+.
Goals:
The main goals of John Quincy Adams was to make improvements internally in the country, improve education with a national university, and to federally support arts and sciences. Adams presented a program to improve roads and canals. Many canals started to be built. The Chesapeake and Ohio canal, the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, and the Louisville and Portland Canal were all started during the term of Adams. The construction of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad began as well. Many of his other ideas to improve other things such as education was viewed to go against the rights of the states. For that reason, not much was done to improve such things.
Relationship with Congress:
At the time, the relationship between Adams and Congress was tense and difficult. Congress was pushing towards state’s rights while Adams wanted to make laws and bills to further the nation as a whole. Due to this conflict, neither one would allow the other to get much done. That is the primary reason very little was accomplished during the term of Adams. The laws that Adams wanted to pass Congress believed to violate the rights of the states. Near the end of his term in office, Adams managed to lose Congress all together.
Positive Event:
John Quincy Adams was a strict believer in internal improvements. Adams formed a high tariff for these internal improvements which included better roads and a national bank. He presented Congress with a program to modernize roads, form canals, build a national university, and to create a national observatory. This was the most positive event because, considering not much occurred during his presidency, this event improved the nation the most. Internally improving the nation bettered transportation through America, making it easier to get from point A to point B.
Negative Event:
Adams wanted to protect the northern manufacturing, so therefore he created the Tariff of 1828. This tariff, also known as the Tariff of Abominations, was built to protect the industries in the north by taxing the imported goods. Even though the north was prospering from this tariff, the south was not as fortunate. They were being forced to pay higher prices for goods that they did not produce. There were little to no industries in the south but they still had to pay for the tariff. The tariff of Abominations separated the nation. The south were furious for this tariff and America was slowly deteriorating. It was one of the many causes to the Civil War.
Influential Decision:
The Tariff of Abominations had a big influence on the nation in future years. This negative decision showed how the nation and its economy can decrease if the President does not make choices to benefit the whole country. The Tariff of Abominations was tilted toward the North and the South were suffering. The people wanted to avoid this catastrophe and keep it from happening again. In the future, Presidents started to make decisions or compromises that would benefit the whole country instead of one particular area.
Conclusion:
In the end, the country was not worse off but not increasingly better. Other than the Tariff of Abominations, John Quincy Adams did not make any decisions that significantly hurt the United States. He was able to improve transportation with internal improvements. Also, he lowered the national debt by $11 million. Relations with Britain were still tense, so Adams was able to secure other trading channels with other countries. This kept the economy running, even though it was destroyed by the Tariff of Abominations. His relations with Congress were not good as well. He still believed in nationalism while the Congress was moving towards state’s rights. Due to this big difference of viewpoints, not much was able to be done. Granted, Adams was involved in many affairs before he became President in which he would have had to face these issues if they were not resolved earlier. Since not much was done during the actual presidency of Adams, the country never really moved in one direction or the other. After the term of Adams, he still deserves a B+ for his efforts in improving the nation.
"American President: John Quincy Adams: Foreign Affairs." Miller Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://millercenter.org/president/jqadams/essays/biography/5>.
"John Quincy Adams | The White House." The White House. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnquincyadams>.
president, the time Monroe became, several European powers, and in particular Spain. "John Quincy Adams - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams#Presidency_.281825.E2.80.931829.29>.